Preface
Everyone calls me Paul, but my legal name is Paul-Wesley Bailey Jr. Reading, writing, and speech have haunted me most of my life. In elementary school, I attended speech classes, and at home, I used Hooked on Phonics.
I never admitted this to anyone because it’s embarrassing, but in the grade, I was so frightened to read a book that I lied to my classmates and teacher. Each student had to write a list of books they read each month to participate. I did not read one book all year, and I participated in every bagel breakfast. I believe my teacher knew I did not read all those books I wrote on the list, but he allowed me to participate.
I paid for it junior high, which was the grade in my school district. Each year from the grade to the grade in high school, I had to attend summer school. I graduated on time in the grade, but I could have done better academically. I should have been more honest with myself and others, and more focused on learning.
Moving along to my years in community college, I still did not read the textbooks assigned, but I did read all the novels assigned. It was then that I grew fascinated with the art of storytelling. I then began to read more books at work, home, and on the bus to school. One of the life-changing moments of my life was when I walked down the stationery aisle of my customer service job to purchase a composition book. It was then I began my journey as a creative writer. I learned how to use my emotions to create new ideas, plots, and stories. It was the ultimate form of therapy as I unlocked a new way of expressing myself, which I never could imagine if I did not embrace this journey. Initially, I would only write when I did not have customers, but obviously, it wasn’t the perfect writing environment. At work, I was interrupted a lot, so I could not vividly make sense of my abstract ideas. Hating my job was the perfect motivation to go on this path of creative writing, but I knew for me to improve, I needed to change my lifestyle. So, I spent less time playing video games and watching television.
With more leisure time spent on writing, more crazy ideas infiltrated my head that I could write a novel. So, I taught myself how to create a compelling plot to draw readers from their world into mine. I learned how to develop characters, and I learned that reading is a writer’s best friend, along with editing and proofreading. Through writing, I learned to be more honest with myself, stop taking shortcuts, and stop being lazy.
I finished my associate’s degree in 2007, and I still stayed focus on creative writing. My stories became more organized over time, and I published my first novel in 2012. I called it Superhero Syndrome because at the time I was in my late 20’s. I was a fan like anyone else to the idea of superheroes like Batman and Superman, so I created my own. Superhero Syndrome did not reach the success that I wanted for a variety of reasons, so I focused on a different story that will be released this year.
Unfortunately, in 2015 real-life struck me like never before. It was then I received the biggest reality check of my life. It was then I had to reevaluate my approach to life, and my decision-making process to be the best version of myself. Reestablishing my priorities, I enrolled in school again to pursue my bachelor’s degree in marketing. This time I read every textbook reading, and I spent more leisure time studying. I even got rid of my television and Xbox. Reading about subjects that I was not interested in made me more powerful. I learned one of the greatest weapons a human can use is a book. Also, reading out loud helped to make more sense of my work and improved my speech drastically.
In late 2019, although working full time, practicing for my black belt in mixed martial arts, and helping to manage a house, I completed my bachelor’s degree in marketing with my highest GPA ever, by far, and now I’m pursuing my M.B.A.
Writing has become my ultimate passion, and although I and reading don’t always get along, we are now best friends. Most importantly, I have not given up on Superhero Syndrome. I was not mature enough to publish that story in my late 20’s, and I should have taken more time on it.
I am excited that Superhero Syndrome has now become Face Maskculinity. I developed the ideas, the characters, and the plot of the story that I could only effectively do with the development of myself as a man. This story has been with me for over a decade. Readers who know me personally will encounter parallels to me and the characters in Face Maskculinity. All the characters and events in this story are fictional, encircled in religion, politics, and thorough gender analysis.
Face Maskculinity has a cross-dimensional element, it has both romance and lust, and it has horror as all the characters in the story confront a new dire reality that test who they are.
I wrote Face Maskculinity to highlight the pros and cons of being masculine and feminine as biologically constructed, and to help defeat and destroy the victim mentality. I want readers to be more radically bold in holding themselves accountable for their bad decisions, instead of irresponsibly blaming external forces, which is the easy way out. I also want to inform all readers that God is a jealous God, and the more we worship false idols, the more God will release his wrath upon us. Ultimately, I’m confident this will be an entertaining and enlightening journey that will make people who try to control others feel guilty and inspire people to define their problems thoroughly to efficiently and effectively fix them. I hope you all enjoy.